Let's define the problem in terms of BB/100.
Our fish lose 27.3 of them at the microstakes*.
Ten of these BB's go to rake and they'll get ~4 BB's back (I guess).
So effectively the fish lose 23.3 BB/100
That is 6 BB to rake and 17.3 BB to the Eastern Europeans.
Right now they are about three times as big of a problem than rake is.
(to the fish at microstakes)
If you reduce the rake first the 6 BB number would go down, but the 17.3 BB number would go up, making the problem even worse. If we get the 17.3 number down first we can provide our fish a safer and more enjoyable environment. The survival rate of new fish would skyrocket and the lower rake would have much more effect.
Since the problems are at the microstakes how about this idea:
Decrease the maximum amount of tables only at the microstakes.
That way all the profits would no longer end up straight in the pockets of lousy players that can't even beat these stakes, but keep circulating in the poker economy untill it is won by decent players. By us!
* It is actually more because the East Europeans are underrepresented in the sample and the 62% of all the hands they play are mainly at the microstakes, so they represent more than 62% at that level.
Must be over 70% by now, which also shows how alarming this problem is.